Emporia

I called Magen on my way home from work: "Hey, I've got a crazy idea. Want to go toddling this weekend?"

Less than an hour later, we were packed, our hotel was booked, and we were on the road to Emporia.

It was a bright, beautiful day after a week of overcast skies and relentless showers. We took dinner with us on the road: cold chicken, cheese, crackers, strawberries, and cucumbers, served a la Daddy (i.e., whole and unpeeled).

As we drove along the turnpike, we enjoyed seeing stands of healthy trees on either side of the highway, interspersed with tall grass prairies and flourishing fields of corn. I read aloud out of On the Banks of Plum Creek, which seemed like a fitting choice for our jaunt through the rolling hills of farmland and pasture.

Our hotel in Emporia was nice and comfortable. There was a great little pool inside, and we all had fun swimming. Then, it was back to our room to get some sleep for the busy day ahead of us.

In the morning, we had a good breakfast at the restaurant attached to the hotel, then headed out to explore. We really enjoyed seeing Red Rocks, the home of William Allen White, as well as historic downtown Emporia. Red Rocks wasn't open, and we didn't really explore the downtown as much as we liked, so we definitely want to come back for a more extended visit sometime.

On our way out of town, we crossed the All Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Cottonwood River. We hadn't realized that Emporia was the birthplace of Veterans Day!